The market is down 16. SFE Futures were up 2 this morning.

The Dow closed up 2 — The Dow was up 54 at best and down 27 at worst on light volumes again. US Retail Sales last night suggest some signs of growth. US retail sales were up 0.8% in July which was the biggest rise since February and well above expectations although the numbers won’t help calls for another round of Fed quantitative easing. US PPI and core PPI (excluding food and energy) came in higher than expected which also suggests less chance of QE3. CPI and Industrial production numbers tonight. Metals were mixed on the LME with Copper up 0.3%, Nickel up 0.61% and Tin up 3.2%. Gold down$10.80 to $1601.80. Oil up 53c to 93.26c. BHP and RIO ADRs were both down 0.46% and 0.95%. BHP is due to open down 9c this morning. The A$ is at 104.88c.         

Reporting Season Results & Announcements

  • Commonwealth Bank — FY Results in line — Cash net profit of $7.11bn which was pretty much inline with an expected $7.0-7.14bn. The net profit was $7.09bn. The statement is cautious. The dividend is better than expected at 197c versus the expected 190c but are targeting a payout ratio of 70-80% and this was 89%. CBA is up 0.72% to 5594c.
  • Westfield Group (WDC) — Interim results beat expectations — Net profit of $800.1m up 31.4% from $608.7m and above an expected $726.7m. Sales down 10%. A good result thanks to positive property revaluations. WDC is up 0.73% to 965c.
  • Westfield Retail Trust (WRT) — Interim results inline — Profit of $416.9m. Distributable earnings were $282.7m which was inline with a consensus figure of $284m. WRT is down 0.66% to 301c.
  • OZ Minerals (OZL) — Interim profit up but lower dividend and guidance – Net profit $119.5m up 4.9% on sales down 19% – guidance to be at the lower end of expectations. OZL is down 6.31% to 742c.
  • Primary Health Care (PRY) — Good results, dividend above consensus — Net profit $116.6m up 49% but slightly lower than an expected $123.4m. Final dividend of 6c which was above an expected 5c dividend. PRY is up 9% to 337c.
  • SAI Global (SAI) — FY results below expectations — NPAT of $42.4m which was below analysts forecast of $52.6m and down 7% from the previous year. SAI is down 9.98% to 388c.
  • Alacer Gold (AQG) — 2nd Q results disappoint –Adjusted net profit of $18.5m which was down 39% from the previous year. AQG is down 9.39% to 516.5c.
  • SMS Management & Technology (SMX) — FY results inline — Net profit up 3% to $30.6m which was inline with a broker consensus of $30.4m. SMX is down 0.99% to 602c.
  • Echo Entertainment (EGP) — Earnings inline with guidance — Net profit was $42.2m down 80% from $226m last year. EBITDA was $386m down 4.5% but inline with recent profit warnings and within their range of $380m-$390m. EGP is down 0.72% to 415c.
  • ARB Corp (ARP) — FY results were inline but dividend below expectations — Net profit was 1.70% to $38.5m inline with a consensus figure of $38.1m. ARP is down 2% to 932c.

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